The Wastelander

by Tipsy Wanderer

  Cloudhawk was not the spineless, cowardly type. How could a coward possibly spend all his time dreaming about leaving the wastelands and entering an unknown world? He aimed his second punch straight at the Queen’s tall, graceful nose!

  The Bloodsoaked Queen dodged his attack, seeming to move slowly but somehow managing to just barely avoid his punch as she reached out with her right hand and latched onto Cloudhawk’s wrist. The Queen had undergone formal combat training; even in the bad shape she was currently in, she had more than enough oomph left to deal with a half-trained brat like this!

  Crap! Cloudhawk was so terrified that he felt like his soul was about to leave his body. The Bloodsoaked Queen might have almost no power left, but what she did have was enough to finish him off! Cloudhawk could clearly sense a ripple or vibration emanate from her gloves, undulating in a serpentine fashion as it spread across his entire body. This power was capable of affecting every single tiny particle in his body, causing each to vibrate at a frequency that would generate tremendously high temperatures and heat.

  What type of attack was this? How was this attack formed? Cloudhawk had no idea, nor did he care to find out at a time like this. He only had one thought in his mind: Oh, fuck. I’m gonna be burnt to a crisp.

  But just as Cloudhawk felt absolutely certain that his doom was nigh, he suddenly felt a resonant response coming from the stone around his neck. It sucked in all of the strange energy the Bloodsoaked Queen was pouring into his body via her glove, almost like a sponge sucking in water.

  What’s going on? Why is my energy disappearing as soon as it enters the kid’s body? The Bloodsoaked Queen had never encountered something like this before and was caught completely off-guard for a just moment … and a heartbeat later, an ice-cold object was pressed straight against her chest.

  “Don’t move an inch.” Cloudhawk held a crude, ungainly shotgun in his hands. Although large beads of sweat had accumulated on his brows, his gaze was completely focused on the Bloodsoaked Queen. “I’m feeling really trigger-happy right now.”

  The Queen’s gaze flickered a few times before she said in a very calm voice, “Then go ahead and pull it.”

  Cloudhawk suddenly felt a sharp object pressing against his own chest. He glanced down… and his eyes bulged. The Queen had somehow drawn a short dart without him even realizing it. If she pushed it forward by so much as half an inch, it would go straight into his heart.

  Cloudhawk forced out a smile. “That little thing? It might or might not be able to kill me… but I don’t think you’ll survive a shotgun blast to the face.”

  The Queen said coldly, “I’m betting that your gun isn’t loaded!”

  Cloudhawk’s shotgun really wasn’t loaded. The Bloodsoaked Queen’s guess was spot-on, but Cloudhawk didn’t let any of it show on his face or in his eyes. Instead, he applied a bit more pressure to the trigger, as though he truly was ready to fire at any moment.

  The Bloodsoaked Queen had wanted to trick Cloudhawk into revealing something, but the wastelander kid was much stronger mentally than she expected. Although she felt that it was likely that this shotgun had no pellets loaded, given the situation, she didn’t dare act rashly either. The Queen wasn’t afraid of dying. What she feared was dying meaninglessly!

  Cloudhawk was feeling nervous as well. He knew very well that he was putting on a false front right now. The Queen might be very weak, but Cloudhawk didn’t believe that he’d be able to beat her in a fight. A dying tiger was still a tiger; even in its death-throes, it wouldn’t be beaten by a mosquito, much less a half-grown one!

  What should he do? Cloudhawk had no idea how he should break this stalemate! But just as the tension built to a crescendo, peals of laughter suddenly rang out from afar. The mercenaries had come back. Cloudhawk could hear Slyfox guffawing merrily and some of the mercenaries were actually calling out to him:

  “Brat! Brat! Get out here!”

  “Come take a look at what we brought ya!”

  This time, it was the Queen who turned pale. Slyfox really had arrived! He was an extraordinarily talented, sly, and vicious man. Given the shape she was in, there was no way she could fight him right now, much less the many other mercenaries Slyfox had brought with him. If she was discovered… she didn’t even want to imagine what would happen.

  Damn. What was she to do? Was she really about to perish at the hands of these filthy wastelander heathens?

  Cloudhawk could see the blood draining from the Queen’s beautiful face and could also hear the footsteps of the mercenaries drawing closer and closer. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He knew exactly what type of person that fat bastard was; Slyfox was completely unscrupulous, vicious, and a notorious lecher. Who knew what would happen if the Queen fell into his hands?

  “Hey!” Cloudhawk put down the shotgun. “Hide!”

  The Queen was slightly startled. She had been planning to kill him… but he still wanted to help her?

  Cloudhawk stared at her. “I can’t let you die yet! Hurry up and hide. If Slyfox sees you, you’ll be screwed. He’s a total pervert!” Slyfox’s lecherous nature wasn’t exactly a secret; virtually everyone in the base knew it. But the problem was, Cloudhawk’s tiny room had nothing more than a shabby bed and a rickety table, which took up virtually all the space. There was nowhere to hide someone!

  “Onto the bed!” By now, the mercenaries’ footsteps sounded just a few meters away. Cloudhawk had no time to consider anything else. He suddenly pushed the Queen onto his bed, covered her with his grungy blankets, before lying down on the bed as well. The bed was a tiny one so the two were forced to squeeze together to fit on it.

  How could she possibly be “hidden” on the bed? They’d have to be blind not to notice her! But the Queen had no time to react because the door to the room had just been kicked open. A heartbeat later, Slyfox swaggered inside.

  Cloudhawk hurriedly squeezed closer to her. The Bloodsoaked Queen was actually a bit taller than him and her figure was both slender and curvaceous, her form both soft and firm. Cloudhawk had the clear feeling that he was lying next to a female leopard capable of exploding with tremendous power at any moment.

  It was the first time he had such close contact with a woman. Cloudhawk was nervous, but he also felt some other strange feelings rippling through his heart. He was completely new to this kind of sensation, but was in no mood to savor it. The woman was simply too dangerous!

  She suddenly snaked her arm out around him, pressing herself tightly against him from behind. It looked as though she were embracing him under the covers, a very intimate and loving gesture. It was the first time the half-grown Cloudhawk experienced the feeling of a young, lithe, and beautiful woman pressing against him… but he had no time to enjoy it, because the Queen had just pressed something cold, slick, and sharp directly against his throat. If he so much as moved the wrong way, something very, very bad was going to happen to him.

  This crazy bitch still doesn’t trust me?!

  32 Purposeful Poisoning

  “Fuck, kid, why haven’t you lit the lamps?” Slyfox boomed loudly as he squeezed his fat figure into the small room.

  Cloudhawk could sense the softness of the Queen’s body, the warmth of her breath against his neck… and the hardness of the sharp weapon her long, slender hands were pressing against his neck from beneath the grungy covers.

  Shocked? Horrified? Tense?

  Cloudhawk didn’t know how to describe his current state of mind. It was an inexplicable, indescribable type of sensation and even he didn’t know what he was feeling right now.

  Slyfox let out a rather irritated snort. “Are you dead? Say something! And why are you still on the bed? Get your ass up!”

  “What do you want?” Cloudhawk didn’t dare to show that anything was off, much less leave the bed. He said in an intentionally feeble voice, “I need to rest. Stop bothering me!”

  “Fuck that! You just got nicked a few times. Since when have you been such a wimp? Don’t you
want your share of the spoils?” Slyfox walked over, tossing a large silver coat of fur over towards Cloudhawk. It was actually a very complete wolf pelt! Judging by the size of the thing, it had to have been skinned from the alpha rotwolf. “Check it out. This is a really great piece of fur; it’s both warm and tough. You can even make it into a suit of top-notch leather armor. Man, you really should be thanking your lucky stars. Oh yeah, you can keep the shotgun too. Consider that part of your spoils.”

  “What the hell? These things belonged to me to begin with!” Cloudhawk had been the one to kill the alpha rotwolf and he found the shotgun on the field of battle. The fat bastard was acting like he was giving Cloudhawk some nice gifts when in reality he was just giving Cloudhawk things that were rightfully his to begin with!

  “Don’t be a brat. Do you think you would’ve gotten anything at all if I hadn’t fought over them for you? Hey, I’m talking to you! Why the fuck are you still lying…” Slyfox’s words suddenly trailed off as he noticed what was happening on the bed. Although the room was very dim and he couldn’t make out many details, he could still tell that someone was lying next to Cloudhawk, most likely a woman. Judging from her posture, she was cuddling the little bastard.

  A perplexed yet amused look suddenly appeared on Slyfox’s face. “Ohoho! So you’ve finally learned to have some fun, eh? Hidin’ a woman in your room… lemme take a look at her.”

  They’d been discovered! The Queen tensed even further, pressing the dart slightly harder against Cloudhawk’s neck. Cloudhawk felt the dart was about to stab straight through his skin. He immediately began to sweat heavily as he called out, “Who I’m sleeping with is none of your business! I-I… I’m naked. Get the fuck outta here!”

  “HAH! No wonder you are in such a pissy mood. I get pissed too when someone interrupts me mid-shag. We’re all men. I get it, I get it! But y’know, that woman of yours seems to have a really nice body. How does she look? Is she a slut? Lemme take a look. Hell, I’ll teach you a few moves on the spot. I’m a grandmaster in this area, y’know.”

  The Queen began to tremble, her rage and frustration having reached a boiling point. As for Cloudhawk, he felt so frightened that his soul was on the verge of fleeing from his body. This fat fucking bastard was about to get him killed. He hurriedly shouted, “Fatass, are you trying to steal my woman from me?”

  “WHAT!? You no-good sonufa… do you have any idea how many women I got? Why the fuck would I try to take yours, you brat?” Slyfox seemed to have been truly affronted by this accusation and he instantly started to curse at Cloudhawk. “I was plannin’ to invite you to the banquet we’re holdin’, but since yer busy dealin’ with this woman I’ll leave you to it. Let’s get the hell outta here, guys.”

  Still grumbling and cursing, Slyfox left the room. The mercenaries outside all began to let out mocking shouts.

  “So the kid found a woman for himself?”

  “My mind is completely blown!”

  Quite a few of them craned to stare inside with depraved looks in their eyes, curious as to what type of woman this half-grown brat could possibly find.

  “Stop staring. He’s probably a virgin. How the hell is he gonna stay hard with all y’all staring at him?” Slyfox let out a loud guffaw. “Plenty of women in the world!” The mercenaries roared with laughter as they left.

  With the mercenaries gone, Cloudhawk let out a relieved sigh. Moments later, he tensed up again. He immediately said to the woman behind him, “Don’t get mad at me. I just wanted to get them outta here as soon as I could. I’m sorry if I offended you.”

  The Queen’s hand suddenly slumped down powerlessly. She gave no response at all! Cloudhawk couldn’t help but use his elbow to nudge her slightly. “They left already!” The Queen slowly began to curl into a fetal position, still not saying a single word. Something was wrong!

  Cloudhawk turned to look at her. Only now did Cloudhawk realize that her face was ashen and her lips were blue. A few strands of her black hair were plastered to her face by sweat and her entire body was trembling slightly. It looked like she was gripped by tremendous pain.

  “Is the injury acting up again?” Cloudhawk hurriedly lit a lamp, only to see her teeth tightly clenched. She clearly wasn’t in the mood to worry about the rather disrespectful words he said earlier. Cloudhawk looked at her closely. “Where were you hurt?”

  Cloudhawk swept the Queen’s lithe form with his gaze. He noticed that there were a number of holes in the front of her clothes and he immediately pulled them open, revealing a number of wounds across her taut, firm belly. The wounds weren’t that deep, but looked badly infected. The once-white skin around the wounds had already turned dark and purple.

  What was going on here?

  CRACK! The Queen delivered a stinging slap to his face. She glared at him, forcing words out of her gritted teeth. “Take your filthy paws off of me.”

  “You’ve clearly been poisoned, and quite heavily. If this goes untreated, all of your internal organs will rot.” Cloudhawk finally understood why the Bloodsoaked Queen was so weak. A resigned yet curious look appeared in his eyes. “But it doesn’t look like you were bitten by an animal. What happened?”

  The Bloodsoaked Queen growled out, “None of your business. Fuck off!”

  “Why are you such a pain to work with!” Cloudhawk was starting to get pissed off as well. “I saved you. TWICE. Not only are you being an ingrate, you are acting like an asshole. Oh, right… you also tried to kill me! For fuck’s sake, if it wasn’t because you know of the world beyond the wastelands, do you really think I’d be working so fucking hard to save you?”

  The Queen trembled with rage. “You…”

  “Just shut up! You won’t be able to hang on for much longer. If you don’t get treatment, you’ll die.” Cloudhawk shook his head. “I swear to you, if you die in my place, I’ll have no choice but to strip you naked, eviscerate you, and stuff you like a doll. Given how pretty you are, you’ll make a lovely souvenir. We’ll stick you right in front of the outpost for everyone to see.”

  “You wouldn’t dare!”

  “Wouldn’t dare? Why the hell wouldn’t I?” The Queen was noticeably growing weaker and weaker, so Cloudhawk became more and more daring. No matter what, he wouldn’t let this woman die here. He wanted, needed, to learn a way out of the wastelands. “If you don’t want to die, then please work with me, alright?”

  The Bloodsoaked Queen let out a few rattling coughs, a few flecks of blood flying out of her mouth. Oh, shit. This is bad. She’s not going to actually die here, is she?

  The Queen shut her eyes. After taking a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes again. No emotions could be seen in her gaze and she now looked as calm and collected as ever. She said in a cold, calm voice, “Three days ago, I was hunting the demon. I found the place he was hiding, but accidentally revealed myself and ended up being attacked by his minions. I wiped them all out, but I paid a price… and I was also struck by a poison dart.” As she spoke, she handed over the short dart she had been clutching this entire time.

  “This was the thing you used to threaten me earlier, right?” Cloudhawk accepted the poison dart. It was slick, barbed, and extremely sharp; clearly, it was a high-quality weapon. It was also smeared with something that was dark-green in color and a few flakes of dried blood could be seen on its surface. No ordinary wastelander would ever have access to such a weapon. “Fuck. That was close!” The Queen really was a vicious schemer. If she had so much as nicked him, he probably would be a goner by now!

  “With so many of his minions killed, the demon naturally found out that I was here and hunting him. However, he doesn’t know much about me, nor does he know if there are other demon hunters working by my side. Given how slippery and crafty demons are, he won’t reveal himself unless absolutely necessary. That’s why he chose to watch from the shadows and send others to test me.”

  The Bloodsoaked Queen’s voice turned deep and dark. “The ‘sweeper leader’ you saw earlier today w
as one of his minions. Their real target wasn’t the outpost. It was me.”

  Although he had already guessed this, he was still shocked upon hearing his suspicions confirmed. “No wonder. You clearly were able to defeat him with ease, but you insisted on killing him in the most dramatic fashion possible.” Cloudhawk suddenly understood everything. “You were putting on a false front! It was so obvious, even I could tell. Do you really think you fooled him?”

  The Queen stuttered slightly. She had been certain that she put on a flawless performance, revealing no weaknesses at all. How was it that the kid was able to see through everything? But she had most likely indeed been able to deceive her foe. Otherwise, there was no way things would’ve ended that easily!

  “You still haven’t told me what a ‘demon’ is.”

  “Demons are cruel, savage, vicious, venomous creatures. They are the source of all sin, the cause of all calamities, and are the enemies of mankind. As a demon hunter blessed by the grace of the gods, my principal responsibility is to hunt down demons. Honorless, faithless heathens like you could never understand.”

  The Bloodsoaked Queen slowly closed her eyes as she continued to speak. “I have no idea how strong that demon was. I don’t even know if the play I put on today was able to fool him. You saved me twice, so I’ll give you fair warning – leave this place immediately!”

  Cloudhawk was stunned. “What?”

  “Blackflag Outpost is currently the most dangerous place in the wastelands. Its very existence is balanced on a steel wire and the slightest wind could blow it off balance. The demon holds tremendous power in these wastelands. For him, destroying Blackflag Outpost is a very easy task. It might happen tomorrow. It might happen right now.” The Bloodsoaked Queen opened her dark, jewel-like eyes again, a steady look in her gaze. “If you leave right now, you might be able to escape. Flee, as fast as you can.”

  Cloudhawk still had no idea what a “demon” was. Still, there was no reason for this female demon hunter to lie to him. The fact remained that she had been heavily injured by the minions of this “demon” and she hadn’t even been able to face it in person. All these facts meant that there was an enormous gap in power between this young demon hunter and the “demon” she spoke of.